Bahrain

» Press freedom conditions hit their worst point since Bahrain gained its independence in
1971.

» Two journalists die in state custody; widespread arrests, assaults, detentions are
reported.

The government waged a brutal multifaceted crackdown against independent news media covering the
country’s months-long protest movement.
Security forces subjected journalists to assaults, expulsions, detentions, politicized trials, prison terms, and lethal
mistreatment in custody. Both international and local
reporters were targeted: A journalist for the U.S. broadcaster ABC was beaten and his
camera was confiscated in February; a photographer for the independent domestic daily Al-Wasat was beaten while covering a March protest. Authorities used live
ammunition against protesters and reporters: The New York Times reported that two of its journalists came under
helicopter fire in February. The Ministry of
Information expelled CNN
correspondent Mohammed Jamjoom over coverage of the unrest,
and detained members of a CNN crew trying to
interview human rights activist Nabeel Rajab. In
June, a court convicted two critical journalistic bloggers on a series of antistate charges and sentenced them to lengthy terms. Reports of torture and mistreatment of detainees were common: Two
journalists, one a founder of Al-Wasat, died in government custody under
circumstances authorities would not fully explain.
Al-Wasat, the country’s premier independent paper, was in the crosshairs throughout the year: Armed assailants stormed its printing facility in March; the Information Ministry briefly shut the paper in April; and the government filed criminal
charges against three senior editors for “false news” the same month. CPJ honored Al-Wasat founder
and editor Mansoor al-Jamri with its 2011 International Press Freedom Award.

Zakariya Rashid
Hassan al-Ashiri and Karim Fakhrawi were the first media fatalities CPJ recorded in Bahrain
since the organization began keeping detailed
data in 1992. Both died in government custody. Al-Ashiri, a critical blogger, died a week after his arrest on charges of
disseminating false news. The government cited complications from sickle cell anemia, an assertion disputed by al-Ashiri's family. Fakhrawi, a founder of Al-Wasat, died in state custody three days later. The government pinned his death on kidney failure, but photographs published online showed a body identified as that of Fakhrawi with extensive cuts and bruises, CPJ research shows.

Media fatalities in the region in 2011:

Online journalist Abduljalil Alsingace was serving a life sentence on antistate charges when CPJ
conducted its annual prison census. A fellow online
journalist, Ali Abdel Imam, was convicted in absentia on similar charges. In September, an appeals court upheld their
sentences.

Imprisonments over time in Bahrain:

Since civil unrest began on February 14, at least 92 local journalists endured arrests,
threats, and harassment, according to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.